Jimmy Vesey

Lore & Background

Vesey played four years at Harvard University, finishing his collegiate career with 144 points (80 goals, 64 assists) in 128 games. He was named ECAC Player of the Year after the 2014–15 season and was a top-ten nominee for the Hobey Baker Award in his junior year, making the Hobey Hat Trick along with Zane McIntyre and Jack Eichel. In 2016, he again made the Hobey Hat Trick with Kyle Connor and Thatcher Demko, winning the award on April 8, 2016.

After being drafted by Nashville in 2012, Vesey declined to sign with the Predators, exercising his right to become an unrestricted free agent four years after his draft. The Buffalo Sabres acquired his rights from Nashville for a third-round pick in 2016, but Vesey still intended to become a free agent. He met with seven teams in the two days after becoming a free agent on August 16, 2016, and signed with the New York Rangers on August 20, 2016.

Vesey played three seasons with the Rangers, scoring his first NHL goal on October 17, 2016, and recording his first career hat trick on March 12, 2018. He was traded back to the Sabres in 2019, then signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2020, was claimed off waivers by the Vancouver Canucks in 2021, and signed a professional tryout contract with the New Jersey Devils in 2021. After a season with the Devils, he returned to the Rangers in 2022, and was traded to the Colorado Avalanche in 2025. He signed his first contract abroad with Genève-Servette HC in August 2025.

Reader's Guide

Vesey's career is defined by his unusual path to the NHL, where he leveraged the collective bargaining agreement's rules to choose his own team after being drafted, a decision that was within the bounds of the NHL's CBA but came as a blow to the Nashville Predators organization. His collegiate success, capped by the Hobey Baker Award, made him a highly sought-after free agent. Despite never becoming a star in the NHL, he played for six different NHL clubs over nine seasons, often in depth or defensive forward roles. His return to the Rangers in 2022 saw him used as a defensive forward on the fourth line.

His international play includes a gold medal at the 2013 World Junior Championship and a bronze at the 2015 IIHF World Championship. His father, Jim Vesey, played 15 NHL games and works as a scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs; his younger brother Nolan was drafted by the Maple Leafs and later traded to the Edmonton Oilers. Vesey's friendship with Matt Grzelcyk dates back to playing together for the Middlesex Islanders, coached by his father, and both attended Belmont Hill School.

Did You Know?

• He was traded to the Buffalo Sabres twice, each time for a third-round draft pick, the first time a player was traded to the same team with the same compensation twice in professional sports.
• Vesey scored two goals in 29 seconds against the Boston Bruins in 2017, the fastest pair of goals by a Rangers player since Jaromír Jágr in 2006.